Text 4990, 687 rader
Skriven 2011-12-29 21:25:38 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Kommentar till en text av Y'all
Ärende: NewslineT Report 1793 - December 23 2011
=================================================
Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1793 - December 23 2011
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1793 with a release
date of Friday, December 23rd, 2011 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a Q-S-T. France appears ready to modernize
its Amateur Service rules; proposed Euro Zone laws could
outlaw kit building and modifying ham radio gear; another
major endorsement for a world-wide band at 500 KHz and the
Do It Yourself Magic of Amateur Radio to premiere on the
World Wide Web on December 27th. Find out the details are on
Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1793 coming your way
right now.
(Billboard Cart Here)
**
RADIO LAW: FRENCH REGULATOR MODERNIZING HAM RADIO LAWS
France appears to be on trhe verge of modernizing its
amateur service rules. Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, is
here with what's known so far:
--
French telecommunications regulator ARCEP looks as if it is
ready to permit French radio amateurs to use modern means of
communication such as D-STAR. On December 14th several
French ham radio groups received a draft amendment from
ARCEP regarding new laws to govern that nations amateur and
amateur satellite services.
If approved, these new rules will replace the Decision No.
2010-0537, which currently governs French amateur radio
operations. The new rules appear to liberalize modes and
interconnect options for ham radio in the digital age.
According to the latest word that we have, the rules change
proposals will be available for a public discussion on the
ARCEP website and those of participating amateur radio
associations.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in
Zion, Illinois.
--
A careful study of text is already underway by a working
group of French radio amateurs to formulate a joint response
by January 20, 2012. (Southgate)
**
RADIO LAW: EU ZONE THREAT TO KITS AND MODIFYING RADIOS
ARISES
DL9KCE reports a threat to amateur radio kits and modified
equipment in the European Union. One arising from changes
to the regions electromagnetic radiation or EMC exposure
limits laws.
Currently amateur radio kits and modified equipment are
specifically excluded from these directives but under the
proposed changes they would be fully subjected to the EMC
laws. The resulting high compliance costs could make it
uneconomic to develop and sell kits in the European common
market zone. More significant is that should radio
amateur's want to modify equipment it appears they would
also incur additional costs and bureaucratic red tape.
IARU Region 1 is expected to respond with a letter letter to
lawmakersa in the very neart future.
(IARU R-1, Southgate)
**
RESTRUCTURING: ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT FOR A NEW HAM BAND AT
500 KHZ
A new world wide allocation near 500 KHz has received yet
another backer. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of the WIA News reports
from Down-Under:
--
The proposal to allocate a part of the medium frequency band
to the amateur service at the World Radio Conference in 2012
received a boost this week with the release of the Asia-
Pacific Common Proposals that were developed at the 5th
Meeting of the APT Conference Preparatory Group for WRC-12.
During this meeting the various nations of the Asia-Pacific
region discussed many of issues that will be addressed at
WRC12 and attempted to come to a regional consensus
position.
The proposal of interest to the amateur service is to
consider an allocation of about 15 kHz in parts of the band
415 to 526.5 kHz to the amateur service on a secondary
basis, taking into account the need to protect existing
services" and this proposal was supported by a comfortable
margin of Asia-Pacific administrations responding to the
voting request.
The successful development of a regional position supporting
an amateur MF allocation increases the chances that the
proposal will be accepted at WRC-12.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of
the WIA News in Australia.
--
If the proposal is accepted and acted upon at WRC-12, among
other things it will mean another place for hams world wide
to experiment with many emerging digital codecs that permit
long distance communications with very low power levels.
(WIA News)
**
RADIO LAW: HAMS IN LEGANES SPAIN TURN TO FACEBOOK TO SAVE
ANTENNAS
Hams in the city of Leganes, Spain are taking to Facebook in
an attempt to try to retain the right to install and
maintain their antennas.
Leganes is located about 11 km southwest of Spain's capital
of Madrid. Its also where the city council has practically
banned local radio amateurs from installing or retaining
antenna systems. To bring this situation to the attention
of the worlds of amateur radio outside Leganes, hams there
have created a Facebook page at tinyurl.com/save-leganes-
antennas.
The page is in Spanish but they ask that hams worldwide who
have a Facebook account to go to it and click the "Like"
button. The ham radio community of Leganes, Spain, hopes
that a large turnout of support will help convince the town
council to reverse its highly restrictive rulings. More in
the Spanish language is on-line at www.fediea.org/news.
(Southgate, FEDIEA)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AMSAT STARTS FOX-1 FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN
AMSAT North America has kicked off a funding drive to build
and launch its Fox 1 ham radio satellite. This as a direct
replacement for Amsat Oscar 51.
AMSAT Vice-President of Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX
says that Fox-1 will advance single-channel FM repeater
satellite operation beyond the experience of AO-51. Called
the next generation of AO-51 class satellites, Fox-1 is
designed for longer operational life. It also will contain
technologic breakthroughs that could not be attained when AO-
51 was designed.
Among the new features, Fox-1 is designed to operate in
sunlight without batteries once the battery system fails.
This applies lessons learned from both the AO-51 and ARISSat
One operations. In case of Internal Housekeeping Unit
failure Fox-1 will continue to operate its FM repeater in a
basic, 'zombie sat' mode. This means that thew repeater
will remain on the air.
Fox-1 is being designed as the immediate replacement for AO-
51. Its UHF to VHF Mode B transponder will make it even
easier to work with the most modest of equipment. This
means from the ground user's perspective, the same amateur
radio equipment used for AO-51 may be used for Fox-1.
For more information on this new satellite and the fund to
put it in space please visit www dot amsat dot org.
We will have more ham radio space related news later on in
this weeks Amateur Radio Newsline report. (ANS)
**
RADIO LAW: TOWERS VS BIRDS - AGAIN
The FCC has released interim regulations governing tower
siteing that it says strike a balance between protecting
migratory birds and the needs of industries that want to
build communication towers, Amateur Radio Newsline's
Heather Butera-Howell, KB3TZD, has the details:
--
For years, broadcast engineers generally have said there's
no proof that towers kill migratory birds, noting that they
haven't seen piles of dead birds at the base of towers.
Environmentalists disagree, saying towers, lights and guy
wires pose a deadly threat.
In 2006, the commission asked for comments on the issue. Now
the agency says evidence in the record suggests the likely
impact of towers on migratory birds increases with tower
height.
As researchers and attorneys predicted, towers over 450 feet
in height will face more scrutiny. This will likely include
the need to conduct an environmental assessment and allowing
the public time to comment on where a new tower would be
sited before construction. Methods of public notification
could include publishing a newspaper notice or by going
through a local zoning public notice process. An
environmental notice is also required if an applicant
changes the lighting of an existing tower to what is being
termed as a less preferred style.
There is no official lighting ranking yet, however the
commission says recommendations from federal wildlife
protection agencies suggest that steady-burning red lights
pose the greatest risk to migratory birds. Also that the
differences among flashing and blinking lights are not
statistically significant.
The FCC eventually intends to rank tower lighting in its
final rule making on this issue but it has not said when it
expects the final regulations to be completed or their
effective date.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Butera-Howell,
KB3TZD, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
--
Nearly four years ago, a federal appeals court told the FCC
its tower registration procedures fell short of meeting its
responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy
Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act. The FCC says that its interim regulations
address those responsibilities. (FCC, RW)
**
BREAK 1
With holiday wishes to all, we are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world
including the N4MWA repeater serving South-Eastern,
Kentucky.
(5 sec pause here)
**
RADIO LAW: LIGHTSQUARED VS. GPS INDUSTRY - ROUND 6
The federal government has confirmed reports that tests
conducted by a joint Technical Working Group show that
signals from a nationwide wireless broadband network
proposed by from LightSquared interfered with the majority
of commercial GPS receivers that it tested. Bill Pasternak,
WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the latest on this
controversary between the government and private industry
that can affect every GPS user:
--
A joint statement issued December 13th by the Department of
Transportation and the Department of Defense confirms that
testing did show that LightSquared signals caused harmful
interference to the majority of tested general purpose GPS
receivers. A separate battery of tests, conducted by the
Federal Aviation Administration has shown the LightSquared
like signals also interfered with Terrain Avoidance and
Warning Systems. These rely heavily on GPS signals for
reference to an aircraft's proximity to the ground.
In response, LightSquared executive vice-president Jeffrey
Carlisle sent a letter on December 12th to FCC Secretary
Marlene H. Dortch. In it, LightSquared offered to surrender
authority over use of the upper part of its allotted
spectrum to the National Executive Committee for Space-Based
Positioning, Navigation and Timing which is a government
organization of military and commercial telecommunications
officials. The move would effectively shut LightSquared out
from utilizing that bandwidth, which is immediately adjacent
to the spectrum used by G-P-S receivers.
But here is a catch. In exchange for the concession, the
company asked for immediate access to the lower 10 MHz of
the spectrum initially granted to LightSquared by the FCC in
December 2010. LightSquared claims signals utilizing this
bandwidth will not interfere with most GPS devices, provided
they are fitted with narrow bandwidth sharp cutoff filters.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, Im Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF,
in The City of Angels.
--
That proposal from LightSquared was met with suspicion from
the Coalition to Save our GPS. In a statement, coalition
member the National Business Aviation Association noted
LightSquared's offer doesn't alleviate the overall concern
that its system will still interfere with GPS signals. As
such, there exists the potential of jeopardizing the safety
of countless pilots and others who rely on GPS for
navigation. (NABA)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC ADOPTS CALM ACT RULES TO LIMIT TV COMMERCIAL
VOLUME
The Federal Communications Commission has taken what it
terms as a major step toward eliminating one of the most
persistent problems of the television age. That being those
overly loud commercials that the public seems to hate.
On Wednesday, December 14th the Commission adopted a Report
and Order that implements the 2010 Commercial Advertisement
Loudness Mitigation or CALM Act. That's the statute in
which Congress gave the Commission, for the first time,
authority to address the problem of excessive commercial
loudness.
The rules as adopted require that commercials have the same
average volume as the programs they accompany. The rules
also establish simple, practical ways for stations and multi-
channel video programming distributors to demonstrate their
compliance with the new regulations.
The CALM Act rules will become effective one year after the
date of their adoption, or 13 December, 2012. This gives
those broadcasters falling under the regulation until that
date to be in full compliance. Equally important, it
provides ample time for programmers and networks to provide
their distributors with certifications stating the
commercials that accompany their programming are fully
compliant with these new rules.
While consumer complaints about loud commercials have
diminished since 2009, the FCC expects that these new rules
will reduce loudness complaints even further. (Media
Network, FCC)
**
TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE: DISABILITY.GOV NOW ON LINE
www.disability.gov is the new federal government website for
comprehensive information on disability programs and
services in communities nationwide. The site links to more
than 14,000 resources from federal, state and local
government agencies; academic institutions; and nonprofit
organizations.
In the Technology section, can be found information on
assistive and accessible technologies, emergency
communications systems; the accessibility features of new
technologies like smart phones; and guidelines and standards
related to technology accessibility for people with
disabilities. Information is by State using the drop-down
menu located on the left side of any page on Disability.gov,
to find local resources that can help you pay for your
assistive technology needs.
Disability.gov is managed by the U.S. Department of Labor's
Office of Disability Employment Policy in collaboration with
21 federal agency partners, including the FCC. (FCC)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: SA AMSAT CALLS FOR PAPERS FOR SPACE
SYMPOSIUM
The 2012 South Africa AMSAT Space Symposium will be held at
the University of KwaZulu-Natal on May 12th of 2012. The
theme of the conference is "50 Years of Amateur Radio
Satellites" and celebrating the launch of OSCAR 1 on
December 12 1961.
Authors are invited to submit a brief synopsis of a proposed
paper to be presented at the symposium. The deadline for
submissions is January 31, 2012. Send a synopsis as a word
file attachment to saamsat (at) intekom (dot) co (dot) za.
More about the symposium is on-line at www.amsatsa.org.za/
(SA-AMSAT)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: NEW RECORD FOR LA GRANGE 6 METER BUZZARD
NET
December 19th set a new record for number of check-ins to
the Georgia-based LaGrange 6 Meter Buzzard Net. According
to Bob Yates, W4GCB, 32 stations from Georgia and Alabama
showed up to take part. The station farthest from the net
control was Thomas Glasze, K4SUS, who is in the north
Georgia hills above the city of Ellijay. That's about 125
Airline miles from net control.
W4GCB says that the next goal for the net is to achieve 50
check-ins. The LaGrange 6 Meter Buzzard Net meets every
Monday evening at 01:30 UTC on 50.155 Mhz, upper-sideband.
W4GCB notes that one of the best ways to protect our
frequencies is to use them. He adds that keeping 6 meters
active is not only worthwhile but is also a lot of fun.
(W4GCB)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: HENNING SCHULZRINNE NAMED NEW FCC CHIEF
TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Some names in the news. First up is Henning Schulzrinne who
has been named as the new Chief Technology Officer at the
FCC. An engineering fellow at the FCC since 2010 and a
professor in the School of Engineering at Columbia
University, Schulzrinne will guide the agency's work on
technology and engineering issues, together with the FCC's
Office of Engineering and Technology.
The Columbia University professor reports to FCC Chairman
Julius Genachowski. In his new role, Schulzrinne will
advise on matters across the agency to ensure that FCC
policies are driving technological innovation.
Schulzrinne is best known for development of key protocols
that enable VoIP and other multimedia applications. He was
a member of technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories, in
Murray Hill New Jersey and an associate department head at
GMD-Fokus in Berlin before joining Columbia University.
Schulzrinne will be based in the FCC's Office of Strategic
Planning and Policy Analysis. He replaces Douglas Sicker,
who was appointed to the position in June of 2010. (FCC)
**
NAMES IN THE NEWS: ENGINEERING GREAT BOB ORBAN ON TWIT.TV
And if you are a ham interested in audio processing
technology, then you are likely familiar with the name Bob
Orban. His work has made his company a world leader in
broadcast audio processing technology some of which has been
adapted into the ham radio community. In fact, it's hard to
find any radio station or other broadcast outlet where one
of his famed Optimod processors is not installed.
Now you can get a chance to learn a bit about the technology
that Bob Orban created by watching two recent video podcasts
on Leo LaPorte's TWIT dot TV internet network. On December
14th Bob Orban appeared on the shows Triangulation and This
Week in Radio Tech. Both are now available for download or
on-line viewing. Take your web browser to twit dot tv and
use the websites search facility with the name Bob Orban to
locate them. If great sounding audio is your thing, then
this will be two hours well spent. (ARNewslineT)
**
BREAK 2
News never stops and neither do we. From the United States
of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to
the world from our only official website at
www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer
services of the following radio amateur:
(5 sec pause here)
**
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: 137 KHZ SIGNAL GENERATED IN GERMANY
SEEN IN ALASKA
Earlier on in this weeks newscast we reported on the latest
support for a low-frequency ham radio allocation. Well,
it's nearly 10 years since a low frequency signal from
Europe has been received in Alaska. Now, the RF generated
by Stefan Schaefer, DK7FC, of Heidelberg, Germany has been
seen on 136.172 kHz at the remotely operated station of
Laurence Howell, KL7UK near Wasilla, Alaska.
Howell also holds the UK call sign G4DMA used Spectrumlab
software to decode Schaefer's transmission. Using this
system, a full callsign using dual frequency 30 second per
dot CW was seen.
This is believed to be a first for this type of transpolar
path as it has to cross the Auroral zone twice. Conditions
have to be very stable with low geomagnetic and Proton
levels, and the path only appears to be open in the deepest
part of the winter.
KL7UK who is part of the WE2XPO low frequency experimental
license group is using a 2 turn directional K9AY array and a
remotely tuned Icom R75 receiver controlled from his
residence in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. DK7FC in Germany had
an Effective Radiated Power of only a few Watts.
The last signals across this path were seen were in 2003.
At that time G3AQC, G3LDO and DF6NM made the rare path.
More about these low frequency transmissions is on-line at
kl7uk.com. (KL7UK)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: THREE ASTRO-HAMS HEADED TO THE ISS
Three more hams may already be on their way to the
Interrnatioal Space Station. NASA astronaut Don Pettit,
KD5MDT, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, RN3DX, and Dutch
astronaut Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS were scheduled for a
December 21st launch to the orbiting outpost on 13:16 UTC.
By the time you hear this they will likely be on-orbit. The
three hams are headed for a half-year mission aboard the I-S-
S as members of Expeditions 30 and 31. (ANS, Spaceflight
Now)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ARISSAT-1 MISSION MAY END DECEMBER 31
ARISSat One may fall out of orbit sooner than originally
predicted. Jim De Young, N8OQ, reports via the Amsat on-
line Bulletin Board that the new estimated date for the re-
entry of the ARISSat One into the Earth's atmosphere is
December 31st, plus or minus about three days. .
As any satellite has descended to lower altitudes the
atmospheric drag has increased significantly. This latest
prediction For ARISSat One's demise uses solar data through
this past December 14th and only includes orbital height
data gathered between December 9th and the 14th. (ANS)
**
RADIO FROM SPACE: RUSSIAN PHOBOS-GRUNT MAY DEORBIT IN EARLY
JANUARY
And ARISSat One is not the only satellite expected to fall
from orbit in the near future. Russia's troubled Phobos-
Grunt probe, which has been stuck in the wrong orbit for
more than a month, appears to be headed for a fiery and
uncontrolled fall back to Earth in early January.
Space debris tracking experts are predicting that giant
Russian-built spacecraft will re-enter Earth's atmosphere on
January 9th but at present, the forecast includes an
uncertainty of plus or minus 5 1/2 days. In fact, some
space debris analysts are even suggesting that the
spacecraft could see its demise as early as January 1st or
2nd.
Phobos-Grunt was designed to land on Phobos, one of Mars two
moons. The mission was slated to gather rock and soil
samples from Phobos and return them to Earth in 2014.
But after shortly being boosted into space on November 9th
Moscow time, the spacecraft failed to send itself toward the
red planet. Russian, European and U.S. deep space network
receivers were mobilized in hopes of salvaging the marooned
probe, but flight controllers have struggled to regain
control of Phobos-Grunt with no success to date. (SPACE)
**
ON THE AIR: HAMS IN KAZAKHSTAN CELEBRATE NATIONS 20TH
ANNIVERSARY
On the air, hams in Kazakhstan are celebrating their
country's 20th anniversary with the use of special callsigns
as well as issuing a certificate to commemorate the event.
The 48 special callsigns along with QSL routing and
commemorative certificate information is listed at kw dot
cqun dot kz. Kazakhstan is best known in ham radio circles
as the home of the Bikenour Cosmodrome from where a number
of ham radio satellites and crews to the International Space
Station have been launched. (G0SFJ)
**
DX
In DX, members of the NN6NN RTTY Team will be activating
PJ2N from the Signal Point Station on Curacao Island during
the 2012 ARRL RTTY Round-Up. The date for this one is
January 7th and 8th with the team operating as a multi-op
high power entry. QSL direct to NN6NN or electronically
using Logbook of the World.
A team consisting of 12 European operators will be active as
HU2DX from the Capricho Beach House in El Salvador, between
January 29th and February 10th. Operations will be on 160
through 10 meters with the main focus on the lower bands.
QSL via DH7WW either direct or via the bureau. More
information is on-line at www dot hu2dx dot de.
AA9A and W4OWY will be active from Antigua as V25AA and
V25WY, respectively, between February 13th and the 22nd.
Their operations will be on 160 through 6 meters using CW,
SSB and RTTY. QSL via their home callsigns.
Lastly, a group of Polish operators are planning to be
active as PJ7PT from Sint Maarten between March 5th to the
18th. Their operations will be on 160 through 6 meters
using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via SP9PT. More about this
operation is on-line at www.pj7pt.com
(Above from various DX news sources)
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: "THE DIY MAGIC OF AMATEUR RADIO" ARRL
VIDEO TO BE RELEASED VIA DECEMBER 27th AND DEC 3rd NETCASTS
And finally this week, two dates to mark down on your ham
radio social calendar. The first is this Tuesday, December
27th at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. That's when the ARRL will
present an on-line premiere screening of its new video
titled The DIY Magic of Amateur Radio.
To accomplish this the League has teamed up with Tom Medlin,
W5KUB, who will be streaming it from his website at
w5kub.com. The video will also be released earlier that day
on-line at the ARRL's own website at www.arrl.org and on the
ARRL video pages on YouTube dot com. All three are a part
of a new ARRL public relations campaign to interest the
nations maker and hacker community in our world of ham
radio.
Then a week later on January 3rd at 9 p.m. Eastern, the
shows producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, along with Director
Dave Bell, W6AQ and writer Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, will be
the guests of Bob Heil, K9EID, and Gordon West, WB6NOA.
This on their weekly TWIT dot TV video podcast known as Ham
Nation.
Bell, Feinberg and Pasternak will give you a behind the
scenes look at how the DIY Magic of Amateur Radio video was
conceived as well as how it was put together using the very
latest digital video production techniques. You will also
get to see the video in its entirety.
Look for this live netcast at 9 PM Eastern on Tuesday,
January 3rd at live.twit.tv. If you miss it, wait about 24
hours for it to be posted at twit.tv/hn. (ARRL,
ARNewslineT)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC
Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX
Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the Southgate
News Australia's W-I-A News and TWIT dot TV, that's all from
the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is
newsline(at) arnewsline (dot) org. More information is
available at Amateur Radio Newsline'sT only official website
located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or
support us at Amateur Radio NewslineT, 28197 Robin Avenue,
Santa Clarita California, 91350
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk,
I'm Burt Hicks wishing you a Merry Christmas, a Happy
Chanukah, a joyous Quanza and a most preposterous New Year.
73, see you next week and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2011. All rights
reserved.
R\%/itt
,,,By the time you find greener pastures, you can't climb the fence!
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000-10
* Origin: SATX Alamo Area Net * South * Texas, USA * (1:387/22)
|